The present invention is directed to cataloging of digital images. More particularly, the software and system for cataloging digital images into an electronically stored collection or library.
Photographs are taken for a variety of personal and business reasons. During the course of the year an individual may take numerous photographs of various events. During these events, quite often there is a variety of different individuals and items present in these photographs. In the prior art, when one desires to catalog these images in a particular order, they usually are left to placing these images manually into photograph albums. This is a very extensive, manual procedure requiring a significant amount of time. In addition, it is very limited with regard to the amount of information that can be associated with the image in a quick and easy manner. While some photo albums allow the writing and placing of text, the entering of this data is a very time consuming and arduous affair. Once having sorted these images into particular albums which may represent categories of interest, it is extremely difficult to retrieve and/or reorganize the images into other categories. With the advent of digital cameras and digital imaging, it is known that these images can be stored in databases. However, there is no easy and quick or efficient way for cataloging of these images, retrieving and/or reorganizing these images.
Applicants have invented an efficient method and system for organizing digital images in a quick and efficient manner. The organized images can be easily retrieved and reorganized by a variety of criteria.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer software product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program which when loaded into a computer of an image forming device causes the computer to perform the following steps:
displaying at least one image for categorization;
providing at least one selection category having at least one image association icon that can be associated with the image to be reviewed.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for organizing a plurality of images comprising the steps of:
displaying at least of the plurality of images;
categorizing at least one of the plurality of images using an image icon for at least one selection category.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer software product comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program which when loaded into a computer of an image forming device causes the computer to perform the following steps:
retrieving at least one image from a plurality of images that have been previously categorized;
providing at least one selection category having at least one image association icon that can be associated with the image to be reviewed.
In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for personalizing an image computer software program, comprising the steps of:
a. providing a categorization/retrieval program that uses categories and image icons for use in categorizing and/or retrieving digital images;
b. selecting from a plurality of stored categories at least one selection category; and
c. selecting from a plurality of stored image icons at least one image icon for use with at least one selection category.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for retrieving an image from a plurality of images that have been previously categorized, comprising the steps of:
retrieving at least one image from a plurality of images that been previously categorized;
providing at least one selection category having at least one image association icon that can be associated with the image to be reviewed
In accordance with yet still another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for automatically organizing a plurality of images comprising the steps of:
providing at least one image icon associated with a category,
using predetermined characteristics of the icon for use in identifying non-categorized images for association with the category.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention there is provided a computer software product for automatically categorizing images comprising a computer readable storage medium having a computer program which when loaded into a computer of an image forming device causes the computer to perform the following steps:
providing at least one image icon associated with a category,
using predetermined characteristics of the icon for use in identifying non-categorized images for association with the category.
The above, and other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become more apparent from the accompanying detailed description thereof when considered in conjunction with the following drawings.